Salt And Winter
by kjm126316
Summary: We all know salt and winter don't really mix. By extension, this also means salt and Jack don't really mix. Said Spirit of Winter really wanted to keep that a secret, and said Spirit of Winter also failed epically at doing just that. Oops. I do not own Rise of the Guardians. 'T' because I'm paranoid, as per usual. -ONESHOT-


Now, first things first- Jack loved his hoodie.

Immensely.

Not to the point where he'd would put it on a pedestal to keep safe (God knows the hellion has done the exact opposite- that hoodie had more hand-stitched seams than the sky had stars) but he very clearly cared about it enough not to throw it out even when he really should replace it. ("It's _fine_ Tooth!" "Jack the sleeve is literally disconnected from the rest of the hoodie.")

Which was why Bunny found it very strange to watch Jack desperately attempt to pull the sleeves down over his hands. (The kid _knew_ that was a surefire way to rip the cuffs right off the sleeves, so why was he doing it if it meant risking the possible destruction of his precious hoodie?)

"Jack," Bunny finally spoke up, tired of watching the Spirit of Winter try to stretch his hoodie beyond its limits. "Care to explain why you're trying to rip the cuffs off your hoodie?" Jack flushed lightly and stopped the merciless assault on his sweater.

"I'm not trying to rip the cuffs off," he muttered, tapping his staff rhythmically against the floor. "I'm…" he trailed off. Bunny raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Jack?" The blue-eyed spirit sighed.

"Trying to rip the cuffs off my hoodie," he said, resignation clear in his tone. Bunny eyed the frost that was slowly but surely creeping across the wall, floor, and chair Jack was leaning against.

"Yeah. Sure," he deadpanned. "Real believable, mate." Jack sighed.

"It's nothing important anyways," he said, once again pulling the sleeves over his hands. Bunny watched the fabric stretch, trepidation clear in his eyes.

"Jack, mate, your hoodie's about to-"

 _RIIIP._

Bunny sighed.

"Told ya," he said. Jack glared at the tattered sleeve like to had personally offended his mother.

"Crap," he muttered, stashing his hands away in his hoodie pocket.

"I heard the sound of something breaking, what's going on?"

Bunny looked up just in time to see Tooth fly through the door. He waved at her.

"Jack ripped his hoodie," he informed her, ignoring the indignant look said spirit gave him.

Tooth sighed.

"Again, Jack?" She asked. "I just stitched it for you last week!" Jack blushed a brilliant shade of lavender.

"It wasn't my fault!" He protested. Bunny coughed.

"Uh, yeah it was mate," he corrected his friend. "Or didja forget about th' whole thing about ya pulling th' sleeves over yer hands?" Jack glared at the rabbit, the fury in his eyes reading: "I'll freeze your ears together for that."

Tooth looked at Jack, concern and confusion dancing in her purple eyes.

"Jack? What's wrong?" Said Spirit of Winter started squirming, evidently uncomfortable with all the attention thrust upon him.

"Nothing!" He steamed. "I'm _fine._ " Tooth gave him a deadpan look that screamed: _'I don't believe you.'_ The Spirit of Winter sighed, absently fiddling with the torn cuffs of his hoodie.

"Fine," he grumbled, pulling his hoodie over his head. "Tooth, could you grab the sewing kit for me? This," he waved the cuffs around- still without showing his hands, the Easter Bunny noted with annoyance. "Is going to drive me nuts." The Tooth Fairy nodded, trying and failing not to stare at Jack's too-skinny frame. (Bunny could relate- even with the oversized T-shirt Jack was wearing, he could tell the kid could seriously do with putting on a few extra pounds- which definitely said something*.)

"Right, so no freaking out, alright?" The Spirit of Winter asked as he methodically stitched his hoodie back together with a kind of grace that could only be earned by years of experience. Bunny and Tooth nodded in unison, and Jack hesitated a moment before setting his needle between his teeth (it never failed to put Bunny on edge when the kid did that) and showed the two other Guardians the mess of scars and scabs covering his hands.

The Spirit of Easter winced- it was a pretty ugly sight. Rows of what looked like _craters_ covered Jack's hands in a disorganized mess that somehow looked pretty organized if you looked at it right.

"Blimey mate," Bunny whispered, hesitantly reaching out to poke a scar. Jack recoiled away, an unfathomable emotion shining in his eyes. "What happened?" The Spirit of Winter sighed, and took his needle out of his mouth to resume his stitching.

"I fell," he said quietly, glaring at the two of them when they donned shocked expressions. "Don't look so surprised, it happens to the best of us." Tooth frowned.

"Can I see?" she asked. Jack sighed but set down his sewing anyways, and let her take on of his hands to examine.

The Tooth Fairy's frown deepened as she traced over the frosted injuries, pausing to see if her actions caused any pain to the Spirit of Winter. When they didn't, she resumed.

"Just falling wouldn't cause these patterns…" she muttered. Jack shifted his weight, clearly wanting to fidget but unwilling to usurp the placement of the needle still stuck in the fabric of his hoodie.

"I kinda fell into a truckful of salt…" he muttered, slowly but surely turning a delicate shade of violet. Two pairs of shocked eyes met his.

"How would salt do this?" Bunny asked. "And how did you manage to fall into a truck?" Jack flush suddenly accelerated rather rapidly, leaving the spirit a violent shade of indigo.

"That's… irrelevant," he decided, gently taking his hand away from tooth to resume sewing. Bunny rolled his eyes, making a mental note to wheedle the story out of the hellion later.

"As for the damage, my best guess is because I'm the physical embodiment of Winter," Jack said somewhat distractedly, sighing at the confused looks on the elder guardians' faces.

"Jeez, you weren't kidding when you said you don't get out much," he muttered, eyebrows pinching together as he tied off a stitch. "You do know what happens when salt meets ice, right?" Both guardians held the confused look for a count of ten seconds, then Tooth snapped her fingers.

"It melts!" She realized. Jack resisted the temptation to roll his eyes as he set to work with sewing the other sleeve.

"Ding ding ding we have a winner," he said tiredly, yelping when he pricked himself with his needle. The Spirit of Winter cursed softly and resolutely stuck his thumb in his mouth. He looked quite a bit like a displeased child as he did so, Bunny noted, somewhat amused.

"Wait, Frostbite, if you're the physical embodiment of Winter, what are you made of?" The Easter Bunny asked suddenly, part of the conversation registering in his brain. Jack paused.

"Y'know, I've never actually thought about that," he replied around the thumb in his mouth. "My best guess is snow, ice, and a little bit of magic," he paused. "Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm all that wrapped around a human soul… but that's a little beside the point." He looked at the two Guardians, deadly serious, though the image was marred by the thumb in his mouth and the needle clutched tightly in his left hand.

"Don't tell North and Sandy," he said. "I'll never hear the end of it." Bunny opened his mouth to reply, when:

"Tell us what, Jack?"

 ***Jack was born (and died) back in colonial times. I sincerely doubt they had surplus amounts of food back then, which contributed to Jack's skinny frame. Plus, when he died, it was the middle of winter, so it was likely food was in a bit of a shortage anyways.**

 **Well would ya lookie that, I revised the fic! (I mean, I think it's better this way, personally.)**

 **Also because I took grade 9 science I now know why ice melts snow, so to explain why it scars Jack, there's gonna be another oneshot to tag along with this one! Yay! (Not gonna write it tonight though, I'm battling a serious headache ATM and it suuuuuuucks. Pray for me guys.)**

 **Au revoir, little biscuits!**


End file.
